Thursday, October 08, 2015

HUNTING CREEK STEAK simmers & steams in Alexandria (10-7-15)

Hunting Creek Steak has been open most of this year, but we only found out about it a month or so ago. We know the owner, Michael Nayeri, who also rules at A La Lucia in Alexandria, as well as the Chef, Will Greenwood, who actually cooked our first honeymoon meal in the Jefferson Hotel 22 years ago this last week!

These guys have put together an adorable spot at 1106 King St. (http://www.huntingcreeksteak.com/) with plenty of room and plenty of choices. You all know, I am not a steak nut, but this has to be one of the best steaks in the area for the price; a worthwhile venture for sure for steak lovers and others.

Samuel and I went while Will is away, and he wanted to sit outside since it was such a nice evening; it was a great idea and the brick enclosed patio facing the street was jammed with folks, but not noisy at all. There is a cute cabana if you want to spread out and enjoys drinks and snacks and lots of tables with umbrellas. The service outside is superb (it can often be bad when you are there alone and the waiter is AWOL) and we were looked after excellently by the entire team, but Eric was always on with the wine as was our server Shawn.

Speaking of wine, you get 25% off any bottle Mondays-Wednesdays, which I am a big fan of, so I ordered the Numanthia Termes 2011 Tempranillo from Tot, Spain which was smooth, yet intense and would be a superb steak wine for sure. My only complaint for the entire night was that the glasses are on the heavy side; but then this is ahuge palce with an outdoodr, so they need to be sturdy. Samuel had his coke.

Out came a small plate of pinwheel wraps stuffed with smoked salmon and boursin cheese, which Samuel declared inedible as he detests cream cheese; they were delicious, but filling, so I will have the rest for lunch today. I ordered the Lemon-Ginger Infused Salmon Tartar with Jerusalem Artichokes which is a great starter to share. The plate is laden with thinly sliced chokes that are deep fried and come out like thickish potato chips and are seasoned perfectly as the tartar is mild and can be scooped onto the yummy chips. There is also tasty housemade focaccia.

Every day there is a 3-course menu deal with many choices as this is not just a steak place, but we were drawn to the Roseda Farms Butcher's Cut Wagyu Beef Bavette from the start. The steaks are hormone and antibiotic-free at this grass-fed farm and dry aged 21 days in Maryland, which won me over from the start. The Wagyu cut is 12 ounces which is huge and rings in at an amazing $32!! Sam had his with Bernaise which he barely used as the steak was so tasty. My chimichurri was superb and there are many sauce options, although they are not needed at all! The steaks all come with tasty just spiced-right frites, so we skipped ordering any sides as we were indeed stuffed and managed to take home about 1/3 of each steak anyway for tonight! When Chef Will came out, we were all praises and he explained that the steaks are cryovac wet-aged for even longer in house which has to be the secret as well as the superb source.

A glass of tasty Foggy Ridge Pippin Gold Alcoholic Cider from Dougspur, VA was brought around and I fell in love with this sweet treat before we headed home, knowing full well we will be back to HUNTING CREEK for steak or not....maybe duck and the chocolate desserts...or whatever.